Another Presque Isle

There were a couple more things I wanted to see in the Porkies.  One was the Summit, which was said to offer a grand 360 degree view.  So, I took the South Boundary Road to the Summit turnoff, parked, and set out on a steeply upward-sloping pathway.  This took me to a set of stairs and a boardwalk to an overlook.

Summit Peak Tower is a short but upward walk
from the parking lot.

This proved to be the first of many stairs.

A pleasant overlook at the halfway point.

The boardwalk continued, with numerous stairs upward, until at last I came to the viewing tower.  Now, for someone who doesn't like heights, this is even more challenging than a lighthouse!  The tower swayed back and forth whenever someone walked up the stairs.  While the view from the top was wonderful, I kept hold of the nearest railing.  And I happily abandoned my perch when a group of ten women hikers started climbing the tower.

They should call this "Wobbly Tower."

The advice about electrical storms would seem almost
unnecessary... but people do remarkably dumb things.

At the top, looking to the northwest toward Lake Superior...

...and to the northeast.

From there I headed west to the Presque Isle River.  Another Presque Isle!  That makes three in Michigan that I know of — the Presque Isle where I live, a little point of land west of Marquette, and now this river in the Porkies.  Clearly, the term presque isle is descriptive, not necessarily a place name.  Lots of "almost islands" were identified by the early French fur traders.  Only later did their description of a landmark become the name of specific locale.

There are at least three sets of falls on the river.

Swimming is not allowed, but people do it anyway.

More stairs near the river's mouth.

A little way down the road, you go down a steep set of stairs to a suspension foot bridge over the Presque Isle River (pronounced "I-ul" rather than "eel").  This offers an excellent view of the river, and as it turned out, an experience of how small our world is.  As I was trying to take a photo someone walked out onto the bridge, causing it to sway back and forth.  In some frustration I looked up to see who was making a mess of my photography and saw neighbors from Presque Isle (my Presque Isle!) walking toward me.  We were equally surprised.

This suspension bridge provides great river views.

Looking upriver...

...and downriver toward Lake Superior.

On the road headed east through wonderful fall color.

After that I headed east to Escanaba for my last night away from home. •••